LB EB or WC

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chrt396

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I'm having a mental crisis here.

I have a Les Baer Premier II Super Tac. I love it!! Accurate..dependable!!

However......

I have been in search of a NICE 1911. I had the chance to view two high end 1911's yesterday. Ed Brown Classic and a Wilson Combat Protector. Both with 5" barrels. The Ed Brown was very sleek and the slide had a mirrored finish that was beautiful to look at and the Wilson Combat had the black slide with the stainless frame and had a trigger that was light and oh so crisp. Both beautiful firearms in their own rights!! The Ed Brown was weighing in at $3150 and the Wilson was at $2950.

Through my Les Baer, I shoot 200g LSWC's, 185 LSWCBN and virtually anything else will feed flawlessly. It's great! The other two are a bit more stylish and classy. BUT...$3000 is a lump to swallow. The point of this post is to ask..."WHY?" What is there about these two other guns that would push me to buy them over a Les that is considerably cheaper. I don't have a 1 1/2" guarantee on the Les...but it still shoots extremely accurate. I punch paper. It's not to be used as a primary defense weapon. I've got plenty others that will accomplish that job. I want accuracy..I want bling...resale...and quality!

Let er' rip gentlemen!!!
:fire:
 
If it's not broke, why try to fix it. Get the Baer and save your money. Not saying the others are bad guns, but when you get into that class of guns you can't tell them apart.
 
I have no idea what a Les Baer Super Tac is. Pics needed!!!!!

Send your LesBaer to Severns Custom to get Hardhatted. Maybe upgrade your sights or whatever you like about Ed Browns.

Nothing wrong with a LB that a good smith can't fix. (except for the billboards if yours has that)

I'm allmost done fixing up a Dan Wesson. It's to the point where I can't tell the difference between it and an Ed Brown without looking really hard. It feels that good. I'll be sending it off soon to get it finished up in Hardhat.
 
Get the Baer. You have one, you like it, you know what you are getting. I am on my 4th going on my 5th Baer now. 3 of them are 1.5" guns. I regret buying some of my other 1911's and not just saving for the Baer's right up front.
 
Peter M. Eick said:
Get the Baer. You have one, you like it, you know what you are getting. I am on my 4th going on my 5th Baer now. 3 of them are 1.5" guns. I regret buying some of my other 1911's and not just saving for the Baer's right up front.
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I've said the same thing. I spent $1300 on a SA Trophy Match, about $2800 on 3 kimbers and I could have bought two HIGH quality Les Baers for the same money. I would have been short a couple guns..but they would have been keepers. As much as I spent on the Springfield...I could kick myself. NOT what I expected out of a gun that price.
 
Peter M. Eick said:
Get the Baer. You have one, you like it, you know what you are getting. I am on my 4th going on my 5th Baer now. 3 of them are 1.5" guns. I regret buying some of my other 1911's and not just saving for the Baer's right up front.
Click to expand...
By the way Peter..what does Les Baer do to the hand gun to assure the 1 1/2" guarantee?
 
Zerodefect said:
I have no idea what a Les Baer Super Tac is. Pics needed!!!!!

Send your LesBaer to Severns Custom to get Hardhatted. Maybe upgrade your sights or whatever you like about Ed Browns.

Nothing wrong with a LB that a good smith can't fix. (except for the billboards if yours has that)

I'm allmost done fixing up a Dan Wesson. It's to the point where I can't tell the difference between it and an Ed Brown without looking really hard. It feels that good. I'll be sending it off soon to get it finished up in Hardhat.
Click to expand...
Here is my photo of the Les. Sorry..I was feeling creative that day and playing with the settings on my camera.
LesBaerPremiertac.jpg
[/IMG]
 
Zerodefect said:
I have no idea what a Les Baer Super Tac is. Pics needed!!!!!

Send your LesBaer to Severns Custom to get Hardhatted. Maybe upgrade your sights or whatever you like about Ed Browns.

Nothing wrong with a LB that a good smith can't fix. (except for the billboards if yours has that)

I'm allmost done fixing up a Dan Wesson. It's to the point where I can't tell the difference between it and an Ed Brown without looking really hard. It feels that good. I'll be sending it off soon to get it finished up in Hardhat.
Click to expand...
http://www.lesbaer.com/PremierST.html

Here is the direct link to the Les

They also have Baer coating which I'm sure is similar to the "Hardhat" coating that you mentioned. The Super Tac has that feature as well as others. I'm not quite sure what "Billboards" are on a pistol. Are you meaning engraving? If so..the engraving is not that visible. The picture shows it fairly well, but that is because I turned the contrast up on the photo settings.

Again..there is nothing wrong with LB. It's just that the others are sexy!!
 
That's the thing. Les Baers are mechanicly every bit as good as Ed Brown IME. the best example IMO is the Les Baer Monolith Heavy weight. It's a bit fugly, but with a little work it quickly becomes one of the coolest looking 1911's I've ever seen.

It's just a matter of adding the pretty parts EB uses and refinishing. I'd have Severns custom add a Thick bushing and recoil spring plug, flush crown the barrel, mild carry melt, undercut the trigger guard, custom Dawson sights (.110 thick front FO, .150ish wide rear), Ed Brown wide paddle thumb safety (I'd trim the paddle to a tear drop shape that suits me before sending the gun out to get the safety fitted) and HardHat refinish.

That 1911 still looks great. I'd leave it alone until it was "older looking". Hardhat is alot like a black version of Glocks Tennifer.
 
What is there about these two other guns that would push me to buy them over a Les that is considerably cheaper.
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A severe case of the "I wants" and a deep pocket book is all it would take for me.:D Les Baer does make a decent 1911, but I have had two of them break parts in the long run. Then again, any of them can break if you run them hard enough.
 
Functionally, they're all essentially the same. Cosmetically Ed Brown is the best of the bunch short of jumping up to the Super Grades from Wilson, which are truly insane $$$. But they all feel pretty different in the hand, which really is probably the most important deciding factor. For me the Ed Brown SF felt best by far, but that's totally personal preference and could be completely different for somebody else. My #2 choice would be a Baer, incidentally - Wilson makes a fine gun but they just don't do it for me for some reason.

If you love your current gun and just want something nicer to look at the smart move may be to have it refinished by somebody like Accurate Plating & Weaponry or Robar, who can make it cosmetically perfect and put any finish or coating on it you want.
 
Since you obviously like the look of Les Baer pistols it doesn't make sense to me that you spend twice the money on an Ed Brown. I have three Ed Browns and the only complaint I have is the Gen III coating which isn't as durable as some other more advanced coating systems such as ion bond or salt nitriding. All three have stainless steel frames and slides so corrosion isn't an issue but I will probably get them ion bonded at some point. As for the $3,000 entry fee for the Ed Brown, my last one was just over $2,600 and I got exactly what I wanted by selecting a number of upgrades over the base Special Forces Light Rail model. I still consider it to be a semi-custom but I'm very happy with it.
 
Question to me as to what does Baer do for the 1.5" guns.

Hand fit them carefully. If I remember right, the 1.5" guns are said to get an extra about 8 hours of hand fitting time and polishing of the internals.

I find my 1.5" guns are not as tight as say my standard PII. They just are very smooth. Properly lubed it is like glass on lube on glass. Just very smooth and when they lock up the sort of "snick" together. Accurate, reliable and smooth is how I describe the 1.5" guns.
 
I have been in search of a NICE 1911.
Click to expand...
You have a NICE 1911.
Not sure I understand all the "Get the LB" posts....since your original post states:
I have a Les Baer Premier II Super Tac. I love it!! Accurate..dependable!!
Click to expand...
Either I cannot read, or a bunch of others cannot read. Which is it? :)
 
orionengnr said:
Either I cannot read, or a bunch of others cannot read. Which is it?
Click to expand...

The OP states ...

chrt396 said:
What is there about these two other guns that would push me to buy them over a Les that is considerably cheaper.
Click to expand...

I interpreted this to mean why buy an Ed Brown or Wilson Combat rather than another Les Baer given the OP's positive experience with LB.
 
I take it to mean he's looking for a new 1911 as solid as his current favorite that is nice, good looking, accurate, unique and will hold resale value. His current LB denotes where he is coming from in regards to wanting a step up and he's wondering what, if anything, justifies the substantial price difference over a LB for the Wilson/Ed Brown.

My thinking is that with the OP's stated objectives and his current catalog of nice (but not WOW! NICE! to him) donors he could turn one or more of his present pistols, or a new one into exactly what he wants. I also gather from his post the sole element missing from his Les Baer is the "bling".

My above link provides him two smiths with experience at both Springfield and Les Baer. I have seen their work up close and in person and currently have two 1911s in for some upgrades.
 
I was looking for a Les Baer PII 1.5" when a used, lnib Ed Brown Executive Target popped up on GB. Bought the Brown. Then a few months later the Baer showed up as well. I have both. The Brown developed a little peening at the slide stop notch. I have runs tens of thousands of rounds through it. The Baer has had more shooting, no peening. Both are very accurate. The Brown feels more "refined". The Baer more "substantial".

The Brown's bluing turned brownish purple. The Baer's bluing wore off.

I bought a Baer PII 9mm. The bluing wore off.

Sent all three to Springer Precision for a DLC coating. Very happy with the results.

If I were going to spend a lot for the look I'd get the Brown.

DSCN0908copy.jpg
Baer .45 PII 1.5"
DSCN0906copy.gif
9mm Baer

DSCN0697.gif
Ed Brown
 
I think the extremely crisp and light trigger on the particular WC that I tried was what enticed me. I also like the slide/frame color contrast. Just looked...GOOD!

The Ed Brown...just shy of $1000 more that the LB. Sleek and classy..and da shine is incredible!!
I'm trying to convince myself to spend the money..but I for some reason cannot pull the plug! I'm very concerned that I won't have the same accuracy that I have with my LB. If I were to get that Ed Brown..and NOT get the results that I get from my Les Baer...I would be crushed. I hate buyers remorse..I really do.

I'm actually trying to take my time and think about this instead of just going nutso and buying a gun. I done that several times with guns, (not as expensive) and ended up disappointed. These are too much to screw up on!
 
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